All posts tagged ‘Sweety High’

It can be tough for a kid to experience community on the Internet. All but 5% of teens are online, and most are using social media platforms. However, for all the success experienced by websites like Facebook, these are not places that welcome teens and tweens, either through policy or behavior. Girls at the cusp of becoming teenagers report the most negative assessment of online social networks.

Last month, Sweety High became the latest startup to launch with a mission of providing a safe Internet community for tween and teen girls. The service is trying to differentiate from the growing number of companies in this domain by focusing on creative expression and original online content.

Sweety High provides original content for and made by tween and teen girls

In Sweety High, girls ages 8 to 16 participate in contests that give them a chance of winning once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such as recording a song track, dancing with TV celebrities, or designing a fashion line. The COPPA-compliant website creates a safe online space for tween and teen girls to be creative and develop leadership skills.

Sweety High is described by co-founders Frank Simonetti and Veronica Zelle as a creativity-powered social game. Members accumulate karma points by being actively involved in the community and sharing creative work, including scrapbooks, journals, and videos. They keep track of those points on their “SweetyMeter” as they work toward virtual goods and contest entries. As members advance through the game, they qualify for bigger events and more exclusive prizes.

“We envisioned an online version of Fame,” says Simonetti, “but one in which you could leverage virtual currency and community to win the real-world opportunities you’d get at a prestigious school for the performing arts.”

Simonetti likens the engagement to World of Warcraft, but built around content creation and pop culture, two things he says teen girls care about. “Our goal was to bring them out from behind an avatar into a specifically tailored environment that put their creativity front and center,” Simonetti asserts. Continue Reading “Sweety High Aims to Be the Fame of Social Networks” »